Romeo & Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet: English Coursework

So far we know the whole story because of the prologue at the start of the play. However, due to the tragic nature of the play and its background, the audience would forget this and believe that the play would change. Both of the “star-crossed lovers” haven’t met each other, yet. And their families, the Montagues and Capulets are in an on-going rivalry which makes it almost impossible for Romeo and Juliet to even meet, let alone fall in love. It is these obstacles, and the main themes of destiny and love, revenge and conflict.

Just before Romeo, Mercutio and Benvolio enter the ball, Romeo begins a soliloquy. He uses poetic language, a type of speech that differs between the characters throughout the scene and the play. Poetic language is used for characters that have a point to emphasise to the audience. Added along with the soliloquy, this allows the audience to focus solely on what Romeo says, and is a sign to say that whatever he talks about is important. It’s a line that should not be ignored, and is used by the most passionate characters like Romeo and Tybalt. In this soliloquy, Romeo speaks of death. In fact, he tells the audience that his own death will come just by entering the ball. However, he also says that his fate is in God’s hands “But he who hath steerage of my course Direct my sail!” This last line creates a feeling of mystery among the audience what will his fate be when he enters the ball? It also sets up tension for the next scene.

As soon as Romeo and his friends enter the Capulet ball, the tension that was created from Romeo’s soliloquy has died down. The first parts of this scene are dominated by servants at the ball. The comical lines from the servants start to lower the tension. One moment the play is serious, next moment it’s very jolly. In Shakespeare’s times, this comical section of the play would be used to get the audience back into the play. This was done, because most of Shakespeare’s audience wasn’t educated very well, so they wouldn’t fully understand the play. After the servant’s comic contribution, the audience hears a pointless speech from a character known as Capulet.

         The speech from a seemingly drunk Capulet is quickly followed by Romeo’s first sight of Juliet. This is a quick peak of tension which happens a lot throughout the play. In the Marco Zefferelli film version of Romeo and Juliet, a very soft and romantic song is sung in the background to set the scene for the meeting. Another interesting technique in this film used to describe the event is a dancing circle with many party guests including Romeo and Juliet. The circle represents the inevitability of Romeo’s meeting with Juliet. He starts to describe her beauty in great detail, using his poetic language again. This means that it’s another important piece of speech. The large amount of emphasis on Juliet’s beauty is used by Shakespeare because of the time period the play was set in. Only men would be able to act on the stage, so the male version of Juliet wouldn’t look very appealing to many in the audience and they would be confused as to why Romeo wants Juliet. Phrases such as “Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear” mean that Romeo sees Juliet in some sort of divine way. She isn’t of this world. The question “Did my heart never love till now?…never saw beauty till this night” is important because it shows the audience the distinction between the love Romeo now has for Juliet and the lust that Romeo had for Rosaline. The way that Romeo delivers these lines to the audience in both film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, the amount of conviction shown in his movements, facial expressions and speech is more than enough to tell the audience that this is true love.

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Soon after Romeo’s first sighting of Juliet, the audience sees Tybalt and Capulet engage in an argument over Romeo. From the previous scenes with Tybalt, it’s known that he has a temper and hates the Montague family (and those associated with them) with a fiery passion.  He first warns Capulet that Romeo is at the Capulet Ball. In his first few lines, he mentions killing Romeo. Because he has come to the enemy’s party, Tybalt sees it as an invasion, an insult to his name and what it stands for, “by the stock and honour of my kin…not a sin”. ...

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